


Harry's Dream

by DarkerThanDisney (Kairyn)



Series: Son of Jafar [13]
Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Alternate Universe, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood and Violence, Child Abuse, Childhood Sexual Abuse, Established Relationship, Families of Choice, Genie Jay (Disney), Hurt/Comfort, Implied Sexual Content, Isle of the Lost (Disney), M/M, No Auradon, Sexual Assault, Trauma, fic of a fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-09
Updated: 2020-01-09
Packaged: 2020-11-28 02:08:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20958701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kairyn/pseuds/DarkerThanDisney
Summary: An AU of an already AU fanfic. What Harry wishes had happened instead of the events of Son of Jafar.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ragnaroq](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ragnaroq/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Phenomenal, Cosmic Power](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14215296) by [DarkerThanDisney (Kairyn)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kairyn/pseuds/DarkerThanDisney). 

> This is all Ragnaroq's fault. Again. Bad (or good) influence that one. 
> 
> There will be another chapter of this but that's at the moment all that's being planned. And I do think that chapter will be written up fairly soon.

Harry couldn't help but be nervous as he slipped through the narrow alley that ran beside Jafar's Junk Shop. He had been looking for Jay to talk to him. Uma had come clean about a lie she had told months ago. A lie that had led Harry to doing some horrible things out of anger. Harry had to find Jay and find some way to fix everything he'd done. But he couldn't do that if he couldn't find the Arabian.

Harry had thought it would be a simple thing to get Jay's attention, but he hadn't seen Jay today despite the fact that he had been making a ruckus inside Mal's territory. He'd even gone into Curl Up and Dye and there hadn't been a peep from the Arabian -who _always_ showed up if Harry went into the beauty parlor. Dizzy Tremaine was a favorite of the four strongest of the Dragon Gang. Harry'd eventually gotten chased out of the area by a furious looking Mal. So, yes, he knew something was definitely wrong with Jay.

Luckily, Jay had shown Harry how to break into the Junk Shop a long time ago. Jay had said about fifty million times, that Harry was only allowed to break in to see the eels and that he could absolutely never go beyond the kitchen door. Harry had agreed to the terms since Jay had been so adamant about them. The Arabian had insisted with a strange glint in his eyes that had made Harry double take and treat the request seriously for once. He hadn't tried to break in since the two of them had their falling out and Harry was a little nervous to see if it would still work. Harry wouldn't blame Jay if he had removed the possibility of Harry breaking into the shop.

Harry very carefully slid his pocket knife into the edge of the one window that Jay had pre-broken for him. Jay had taken about a month to rig the window so that Harry could break in but so that it wasn't obvious how it worked. Also so that Jafar didn't find out that there was a weak point in his paranoid home security. 

Harry didn't go inside too often since it had taken him months of sweet talking and promises to get Jay to agree to let Harry in even once. And then to leave Harry a way in after. The last thing that the pirate had wanted to do was to ruin whatever the odd fluttering thing they had between them was so, for once, he didn't take advantage.

The alley was only a little over two feet wide, which made it harder to get the leverage needed, but Harry did manage to pry the wood up enough to slide the darkly painted glass out of the frame. The pirate nearly dropped the pane but managed to catch it at the last minute. He blew out a long breath and carefully put the square of glass off to the side to rest on top of a half-crushed trashcan. With the hole made, Harry glanced inside the kitchen.

This window was right by the table filled with old electronics and small appliances that needed to be rebuilt or repaired. Across the room was the fish tank holding Lagan and Derelict. Harry didn't spot the eels but then they liked to stay inside the large pot that Jay had dropped in there so he wasn't surprised. More importantly there was no sign of Jafar. Although, Harry thought he might hear talking from somewhere. Probably the front of the shop.

Maybe he should wait until he was sure Jafar was gone or at least in his room. It would be safer that way. Especially as Harry heard the talking turn to shouting. Harry grit his teeth as he heard the names Jafar was flinging out but resisted the urge to do something. Jay wouldn't thank him for getting involved for something as little as name calling -no matter how hurtful the slurs were. Harry knew how much Jay hated the word 'whore' and he had definitely heard that one being used.

But then, Harry heard something else that made his heart freeze in his chest. Jay was screaming. Harry shot his arm through the hole and fumbled with the lock that he couldn't see. He cursed as he tried to pick it quickly without seeing it. The damn latch lock that came on the window had been changed out for one off of a chest or something meaning it was supposed to use a key. The sounds of a fight were echoing out from further in the shop and Harry cursed again as he tried to hurry. Damn Jafar's pension for re-purposing locks for everything in the damn world.

His dagger tip slipped out of the lock and Harry growled in frustration. Jafar was shouting and Jay had grown quieter. Frighteningly so. Harry changed tactics and put the blade of his knife on the side of the lock between it and the wood. Jay screamed again -which would have been a relief if it didn't mean something terrible was going on. The screams coming from Jay were horrible and blood curdling, and Harry felt his rage climbing every second.

Harry slammed his hand down against his knife hilt over and over, cursing every time the window remained locked. Finally, there was a splintering noise and Harry twisted the blade to pry the lock fully off of the window. There was a clatter as the lock hit the ground, and Harry wasted no time in forcing the window up and out of his way.

He heard something else break but didn't care as he climbed through to land inside the kitchen. A quick glance let him know what the noise had been. Harry's knife tip had broken along with the lock of the window so he abandoned it without a care on the ground. The pirate grabbed his hook off where it was hanging from his belt. He preferred that anyway.

When Harry got to the front of the shop, he saw Jafar over a bloody and senseless Jay. Everything went red and suddenly he felt a jerk in his arm as his hook slammed down into Jafar's back. Harry hadn't even realized he'd moved. The ex-Vizier howled and dropped his makeshift weapon as he reached back to where blood was staining his robes. Harry used his foot to kick Jafar away, tearing a bigger hole with his hook as he did. 

Jafar went sprawling and crashed into a table. Harry bent down to touch Jay's neck and was relieved to feel a pulse and hear Jay groan softly. But then Jafar was struggling out of the mess of the toppled table and Harry directed his attention back to his lover's abusive asshole of a father. 

Before Jafar could get fully untangled from the various cords and bits of electronics that had been on display, Harry was on him again. Harry let his fist fly, slamming hard into Jafar's stupid smug face over and over again. Jafar was struggling but Harry barely noticed that. He was too intent on making Jafar feel every bit of pain he'd ever made Jay endure. Between the punches, Harry slashed down with his hook as hard as he could, causing a louder scream as the sharp metal pierced the Arabian.

Harry felt all the aggression he'd ever bottled up come rushing out as his knuckles split open and his hand on his hook grew slick and sticky. Harry wasn't sure how long he was going but finally he had to stop to catch his breath. The short huffs for air tasted of copper and slowly the red faded from his vision. Jafar was a mess sprawled out among the destroyed display. 

Jafar wasn't so much as twitching and his face was hard to recognize. The deep gashes and punctures from Harry's hook were all oozing blood to stain Jafar's slightly tattered robes. Harry waited a moment but Jafar still didn't move so he got up and went over to Jay.

Jay was half curled up in a puddle of his own blood and dark bruises were starting to come in under his beautiful copper skin. Harry pushed down his emotions as he carefully pulled Jay into his arms to better see the wounds. A ring of dark bruises were wrapping around Jay's neck, his nose was busted open, and his eye was already swelling terribly. A curved shard of glass was wedged into Jay's side and stopping the bleeding from getting too much worse. That would have to come out. But the worst was the blood on Jay's legs, easily visible since his pants were around his knees.

Harry felt his rage climbing again. That bastard was supposed to be Jay's father. How could he have hurt Jay like that?! Even being Evil should come with some sort of standards! And with how Jay had been hurt before being assaulted like this by his own Father... Harry tried to shake it off for now. The fallout would, by necessity, be something for later. 

"Jay, Jay, come on..." Harry said as he brushed Jay's long hair back with his slightly less bloody hand. His right hand, which had been holding the hook was coated in red. Jay groaned a little bit in pain and his eye lashes fluttered but that was it. Harry cursed and pulled Jay's pants up again to fasten them. Jay needed help -more than what Harry could easily provide anyway- and Harry wasn't about to go carrying Jay through town so exposed.

Harry glanced over his shoulder and saw that Jafar still hadn't moved. He would deal with that later, he thought. Harry was about to pick Jay up off the ground fully when a glint at Jay's wrist caught his eye. With a slight frown, Harry reached over and picked up Jay's limp hand. Underneath the dark leather cuff, which had been half undone, was something gold. "Wha..." Harry slid his thumb under the edge to pry it wider so he could better see what Jay was wearing.

It took staring at the golden bracer for several long moments for it to click in Harry's head what he was actually seeing. "Oh, gorgeous... Gorgeous, ya shoulda said somethin'," Harry said before pulling the laces on the bracers to cover up the gold again. Harry understood why he didn't, but he so wished that Jay hadn't kept this to himself. Jay somehow, someway was a Genie.

Jay being a Djinn made a sick sort of sense and Harry really should have put that possibility together himself ages ago. But Genie had always been a touchy topic with Jay so Harry had trained himself to avoid it. There were plenty of things they argued about already, Harry hadn't needed to cause any others.

Still, it was yet another topic to deal with later. Right now Jay was still unconscious and bleeding. As Harry carefully put Jay's arm back over his own waist, he noticed Jay's arm was broken. Yet more pain Harry owed Jafar later on.

Harry carefully picked Jay up in his arms and did a quick mental rundown of the places he could go that would be safe. There weren't a lot of options sadly. The best was the one Harry most didn't want to rely on. Harry would prefer to take Jay someplace Harry was familiar with, like one of the boltholes that Jay had shown him or one of Harry's own. But because they were at the Junk Shop, Harry was far from his turf. Jay didn't have any hiding places close to his Father's house either... aside from the Loft. Not someplace Harry really wanted to go sauntering up to.

Harry huffed and got to his feet. For Jay's sake he would suck it up. Harry had to fumble on his way out of the house but he at least remembered to close the back door before hurrying through the alleys. To cut down the risk of being seen by too many people, Harry would stick to as many smaller routes as he could even though that took a little longer. It was a balance between keeping as much of Jay's dignity as he could and keeping Jay alive.

The Loft that Mal operated out of was well known to the leaders of the other gangs. They didn't know how Mal and her group got in but they knew that was where you would go if you wanted to actually talk. That rarely happened, of course, but it wasn't like Mal's base of operations was a secret.

Harry went to the Loft and kicked hard at the dented gutter that ran down one side. He knew from experience that it caused a horrible banging noise somewhere inside that would draw the other gang's attention. Harry glanced around as he waited impatiently for someone to come to the nearest window. 

After only about twenty seconds, Harry's impatience got the best of him and he kicked the pipe again three times, making it hit the side of the building. The window up above flew open and Mal stuck her head out, eyes glowing bright green. "What the he- Jay!"

"Lemme up, Mal," Harry said.

There was only about twenty seconds of hesitation. "Go around front," Mal ordered before disappearing.

Normally, Harry would balk at anyone but Uma giving him orders but he swallowed the distaste for now and hurried to the front of the building. By the time he got there Mal was throwing a heavy gate up so that Harry could carry Jay inside. "Hurry!" Mal snapped. "What happened?"

"Jafar," Harry said shortly as he carried Jay inside and up the stairs. 

Mal cursed but didn't ask any other questions. She just slammed the gate back down and hurried up the stairs after Harry. "Put him on the couch. Carlos! Evie!" Mal shouted even before Harry reached the top of the stairs.

Harry spotted the couch in question immediately and ignored the curious looks he got from Carlos and Evie. Mal was shouting out orders that Harry wasn't listening to in the least. He carefully put Jay down on the couch and shifted to brush the hair away from Jay's bloody face. He didn't care that he was showing far too much. Uma already admitted that she knew about him and Jay so what was even the point in hiding it further?

Suddenly there was a tug at the back of his shirt and coat. It choked him slightly but then he was slammed against a solid wall. Mal was pressing against him with her arm crushing into his throat. "What the hell is going on, Harry?" she demanded, eyes glowing bright venemous green.

Harry's first instinct was to fight back and deny everything but he pushed that back. Mal would just rip his throat out if he tried to fight. "We... we were tagether," Harry said. "A while back. I... I screwed it up though. I was finally goin' ta get my head outta my ass an' apologize... an' I found Jafar beatin' on Jay."

Mal's eyes were even fiercer than before. "What?"

Harry huffed but wasn't sure what part of what he'd said she was questioning. "Wha' wha'?"

"You... nevermind. Just get out of here," Mal ordered. She even took her arm off of Harry's neck as if he would actually move away.

"I ain't goin' anywhere," Harry said.

"You want me to drag you out of here?" Mal asked.

"I need ta make sure he's alrigh', Mal," Harry said. "Jus' let me stay tha' long." This was a gamble for certain, but Harry was banking on the fact that Mal did care for Jay and would hopefully realize that Harry did too. Even if he had royally screwed everything up.

Mal looked like she was debating throwing Harry out of the nearby window. Before she could come to a decision, there was a noise from the couch. She whipped around and hurried to Jay's side, gently pushing Carlos and Evie to the side. "Jay." Harry was right behind her, not particularly carrying at the continued looks he kept getting from Jay's gang.

Jay opened his unswollen eye halfway. "M-mal?"

"I'm here, You're alright, Jay," Mal said.

"Wha... Harry?"

"Yeah, it's me," Harry said. "I'm sorry I been such an ass lately."

Jay still looked confused. "Wha' happened though?"

Harry pushed Mal off to the side despite the glare that he was getting. But he needed to get closer to Jay and she was in the way. "I came ta 'pologize ta ya, gorgeous," Harry said as he reached up to brush his fingers over Jay's head. "An' I heard the fight. I couldn' do nothing, Jay."

Jay's eyes flicked back and forth from Harry to Mal. "Harry-"

"Yeah, we'll talk about _this_ later," Mal said firmly. Her displeasure was very clear, but Harry didn't care about that right then. "When you're feeling better."

Jay winced but nodded. Mal gave a single nod before grabbing Harry by the shoulder and pulling him away. "You. We need to talk."

Harry sighed in agitation. He just wanted to make sure Jay was alright. Was that so hard to let him do? "Wha'?"

"What happened to Jafar?" Mal asked low enough that Jay, who was being fawned over by Evie, couldn't hear.

"I left 'im in the shop. Wasn' movin' bu' I didn' look too close."

Mal frowned but nodded. "Come with me," she said as she turned for the stairs. 

Harry scowled. "I don' take orders from ya."

"Just come on, Hook. We have loose ends to tie up," she said. Harry saw her grab a sword from a table before she disappeared down the stairs. The pirate's eyebrow went up, but he was now sufficiently curious as to what Mal was talking about.

Harry glanced one more time at Jay but he seemed to have fallen asleep or passed out again. Evie and Carlos would look after Jay, Harry didn't doubt that. So, Harry made sure he had his hook and then followed Mal out of the loft.

Harry noticed as they made their way through the streets that they got a few looks and Harry was suddenly aware that he was covered in blood both Jafar's and Jay's. He probably looked even more derranged than normal.

The sight of the Junk Shop in front of them probably should have been more surprising. Or maybe not. Harry knew how ruthless and vengeful Mal could be. Mal went around back and Harry followed without bothering to slow them down with arguments.

The back door was still closed but Harry hadn't taken the time to lock it so they were able to walk right in. The shop was almost unnervingly quiet. Harry paused to make sure that nobody else had broken in through the kitchen and was satisifed that it didn't look as if anything else was disturbed.

Harry realized that Mal had moved ahead and hurried forward to the front of the shop. He pushed the beaded curtain to the side and spotted Mal kneeling down beside a still sprawled out and bloody Jafar. Mal looked back at Harry and then stood up. "I'm jealous," she said.

"Jealous?" Harry asked.

"I really wanted to be the one to kill him," Mal said as she kicked Jafar's boot with her foot.

Harry blinked. "He's dead?"

"Seems to be," Mal said. "I guess the unfinished business has changed to getting rid of a body."

"Wha', ya sayin' ya don' have a dump site already planned out?" Harry asked with a scoff.

"I didn't say that. I just said we had to get rid of the body. I already have plenty of places that could do with a little extra... filler," Mal said. "Grab that rug over there and we'll wrap him up."

Harry sighed in agitation. "Ya need ta stop orderin' me around," he said as he went to go grab a tattered and dust laden rug on the floor. As he pulled it out of it's spot, Harry noticed a trap door had been under it. "Wha's this?"

Mal looked over from where she had been picking through Jafar's pockets. She frowned and walked over to where the trap door had been revealed. "Jay never mentioned anything about a trap door," Mal said as she reached out and pulled the door up from the floor.

Harry felt his blood run like ice in his veins as he saw the deep bloody gouges in the bottom of the wood. As if someone had been scratching at it in an attempt to rip through with bare fingers and nails. "Is tha'..."

"You should have killed him slower," Mal hissed as she slammed the trap door closed again. "Come on. We have to take the trash out."

"Righ'."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo.... let's make that three chapters? Because when I start writing these boys they don't always stay in line and follow directions

Jafar was shoved into a chest and taken around the corner to Judge Claude Frollo's. Claudine owed Mal a favor. She was perfectly happy to let them into the crypt below the church without asking questions about the chest they were toting around. She stayed watching for her father while Mal and Harry dragged the chest to the very bottom of the admittedly pretty creepy crypt. Water was dripping in, and the place was chilled like a working fridge. 

There were various coffins scattered throughout the different rooms and levels, and Harry wasn't at all sure _when_ the boxes had been filled. Frollo did still have a pretty unpleasant opinion about thieves and tramps, after all. Although Harry was also confident that he hadn't burned anyone at the stake for being an Enchantress -otherwise, they would be short one of those, and the Enchantress still lived down by the Evil Queen.

Mal guided Harry over to a large crack in the wall in a small, out-of-the-way room. Together they managed to shove the chest -and abusive asshole within- into the gap in the wall. The whole thing took some straining and cursing, but they did manage it without breaking anything. Then was the simple matter of covering the hole up. A few broken boxes from another room provided some boards to wall it up, and then between the two of them, they were able to shove a heavy coffin in front of that section of the wall.

With that taken care of, Harry and Mal went back to the Loft. Jay was still out, which was actually something of a comfort because they had to set the break in his arm, which was never a pleasant thing to do. Harry kept his mouth shut about any other injuries he might be aware of since he knew that Jay would damn well not want his gang to know about the more private ones.

Mal wouldn't let Harry hang around the whole time despite his arguments. So Harry was left brooding in the Chip Shop with a drink in front of him and an aura telling everyone to buzz off. Uma had tried exactly once to talk to him before leaving him be. Harry was still upset with her, especially since he was certain Jay wouldn't now be beaten to a pulp and worse in the Loft. If they hadn't broken up, Jay would most likely have been with Harry and not there to get beaten in the first place.

After a few days that Harry later couldn't remember much of, he went back to the Loft to see if Jay was up again. He had been doing a lot of thinking with the brooding and drinking, and even remembered parts of it. Parts that he wanted to bring up to Jay. Plus, he didn't think he could stay away from the Arabian too much longer. Even as enemies Jay and Harry saw each other at least every few days.

Evie and Carlos didn't particularly seem to want to let Harry in but relented at -Harry assumed- Mal's orders. When he got up the stairs, Harry was both pleased and disappointed to see the couch empty of any pretty Arabian thieves. Mal nodded her head towards a set of stairs tucked away behind a column that led to the roof. Harry gave her his own nod of thanks before heading up.

Jay was leaning back against a broken up chimney just outside the stairwell with a bottle in the hand that wasn't hindered by the splint he was wearing. Jay glanced over as Harry came up. "What're you doing here? And how'd you even get in?"

"Mal let me," Harry said as he shoved his hands in his pockets. It would let Jay know that Harry had no intention of a fight, and indeed Jay's posture relaxed a fraction after Harry did that. "She get mad 'bout us?"

"What us?" Jay asked back with a bit of an edge. "There hasn't been an 'us' in months."

The pirate cringed but soldiered forward anyway, "Bu' there was."

Jay frowned a little and looked away. "... she wasn't too happy, no. Wanted to rip your junk off."

Harry snorted in amusement despite himself. "Ya wouldn' let her do tha' ta me would ya, gorgeous?" 

Jay's eyes flicked back to Harry. "I was thinking about it."

"Ouch," Harry said even though he knew he deserved it.

There was a long moment of silence. "... honestly surprised she let you in..." Jay said, finally.

"Well, she knows I wanna make it up ta ya," Harry said. "I was... a real villain an' I know I shouldn' be ashamed a tha' bu'... I never wanted ta be a villain ta ya."

"So why were you?" Jay asked.

"Cause Uma said when ya'd been with her, ya were complainin' 'bout sleepin' wit guys an'... an' I figured tha' meant ya'd been usin' me or somethin'..." Harry said awkwardly. Admitting he'd been gullible enough to believe Uma at face value when he _knew_ Jay was an uncomfortable thing for Harry. Especially since it had led to such horrible things. But it had been Uma and why wouldn't Harry believe her?

Jay was quiet again. "... that's what I would have told Mal I was doing if this hadn't happened, and she found out."

Harry nodded. That made sense, if he'd been confronted by Uma instead of just lied to by an offhand comment, Harry probably would have done the same. Slowly, Harry moved closer and, when Jay didn't stop him, sat down beside the Arabian just shy of touching. They sat there in silence for a few minutes, and Harry wasn't sure what to say. Joking didn't seem right, but he didn't really think that Jay wanted to talk about any of it either.

"... He's not into me or anything messed up," Jay said finally. It took Harry about half a second for it to click what Jay was talking about. Jafar. Harry fought the urge to blurt out the first thing that popped into his head.

"So... why'd he do it?" Harry asked after he'd forced himself to not say something recklessly.

Jay shrugged and turned the bottle in his hands while staring at it. "Proving a point, I guess."

Harry felt quite a lot of apprehension about that. "Provin' a point 'bout what?"

"... sleeping with men," Jay said. "Dad... he's never approved of things like that. And not only was I doing it but I was doing it for money and... well, you saw."

"He's an ass," Harry said. "An' ya don' hafta worry 'bout 'im anymore."

Jay looked over. "What do you mean?"

"I got my hook inta 'im a few times," Harry said. He didn't feel sorry about that and knew he would never apologize even if Jay wanted him to. Harry didn't know how Jay would feel about the news. The thief had always been reluctant to say too much about his father. Still, Harry wasn't sure if that was because of Jay's own feelings or this revelation of genies.

Quiet settled again, and Harry really wanted Jay to say something. When Jay didn't, Harry decided to break the silence instead. He usually didn't mind just sitting around with Jay, but this was far from their normal. "I was surprised tha' ya lef' the window rigged..." Harry had only tried it because he hadn't had anything to lose.

"I... I just forgot about it," Jay said, although the slight tinge of color under his tan made Harry doubt that. Jay wasn't a very accomplished liar compared to some of the other Isle inhabitants. Oh, he could probably fool one of the idiot do-gooders in Auradon, but here not so much. Then again, Jay never bothered to practice his lying.

"Well, now tha' Jafar's gone... ya gotta house now," Harry offered.

Jay made a face. "I don't want it," he said before taking a long drink. Harry nodded a little bit. That made perfect sense. If Harry suddenly inherited the Jolly Roger, he wouldn't want it either. Too many places on that ship held nothing but bad memories.

"Should prob'ly go an' empty it out firs' though," Harry said. "... 'specially o' stuff tha's actually yers."

"You mean the tank? And where would I move it to? Here at the Loft?"

Harry shrugged. "I gotta place ya can crash."

Jay blinked. "What? You mean move in with you somewhere?"

"Why nah?"

"Because you were calling me a cheap whore just last week," Jay said.

Harry winced at his own words. "Ah, yeah... I was sayin' tha' ta hurt ya... I didn' really think a ya tha' way, though. An' I'm sorry." Harry grabbed Jay's free hand and brought it up to his mouth. He impulsively kissed the leather cuff that Jay wore all the time, and Harry now knew that hid enchanted gold. Jay's cheeks went pink. "Gimme a chance ta prove meself, Jay. I won' let ya down again. I swear."

"How am I supposed to trust that?" Jay asked.

"Cause I'll do wha'eva ya want," Harry said. Harry was determined to make up his past behavior to the only person outside of his own gang that he cared about. Jay's opinion of Harry was undoubtedly wrecked, but Harry was willing to work to improve it.

Jay was quiet. "Whatever I want, huh? You sure you want to give me that sort of an opportunity?" Jay asked. "What if I asked to fuck you?"

Harry felt his instant denial rise up sharply at that. Not that he thought Jay would be unpleasant. Rumor had it he was pretty amazing in bed no matter what the situation -not that Harry had explicitly been listening to tales about Jay's prowess like some sort of starved man looking for scraps or anything- but Harry knew he wasn't as strong as Jay in that regard. He'd tried a few times to touch himself in such a way, and it accidentally prodded those memories of sweaty and rapidly aging pirates hunched over him. The experiments had always resulted in horrendous flashbacks that left Harry feeling sick and shaky for hours after. "... I don' think tha'd be fun for either o' us..."

"But would you let me?" Jay pressed.

Harry shifted uncomfortably. He supposed it would be only fair. The pirate had deliberately not been particularly caring about Jay the last several times they were together. If Jay had similar memories as Harry -which he knew that the thief did without even asking- then he could have very well triggered some of them to rise up. Still, being 'fair' was a foreign concept.

"I... I would," Harry said hesitantly. "If ya really wanted... still don' think it'd end well, though."

Jay hummed thoughtfully before taking a long drink of liquor. "Well," he said after swallowing. "I'm not going anywhere until my arm's healed, so I'll think about it."

Harry really wanted to press but bit his tongue. That wouldn't help his case in the least. So, Harry let Jay not give an answer, which was incredibly frustrating.

As Jay healed in the Loft, Harry spent the time when he wasn't visiting to slowly and methodically search the Junk Shop. He pocketed anything particularly valuable looking or not too terribly broken for safekeeping, but riches weren't his primary goal. Keeping some lights on at night and the doors firmly locked helped maintain the illusion that Jafar was just a shut-in and wasn't rotting in a wall. It gave Harry all the time he needed to uncover a fortune that had been stashed away. But the most exciting find had been a safe under the floor in Jafar's room.

Harry had to spend a solid three days nonstop trying to break into it but finally managed to do so. When he pulled out an old oil lamp that was tarnished beyond anything Harry had ever seen before but made his fingers tingle, Harry knew he'd hit pay dirt. He swallowed hard, and his thumb brushed over the curve of the metal for a brief moment before he shoved it into his satchel, where nobody would dare stick their hand.

Through near-daily visits, Jay was slowly warming back up to Harry. Mal seemed to only tolerate him with the same sort of disdain someone might do for a meal they didn't like but had no alternatives for. Harry longed so badly to push back, but Mal also could easily keep Harry from seeing Jay, so he didn't risk it. Once that hurdle was clear though... well, Harry was building up quite a bit he'd like to say to her when he had the chance.

Uma was wisely letting Harry do what he wanted and sent Gil with any messages she might have for her first mate. Harry was still holding a grudge against her, and she was letting him cool off as much as she could. In fact, the only time she'd approached him herself during this time it had been to say if there _was_ something she could do to help she would. Harry had plans on what he'd call that in for but was letting her stew a while longer.

Harry knew the moment that Jay was feeling better because he was just walking through the street, and a rock flew at his head without warning. Jay was standing up on a roof and gave a challenging smirk. Harry had been more than willing to give chase and give Jay the workout he was definitely looking for. Harry would have liked it to turn into the same things it used to turn into, but Jay put a halt to it before things could settle into old rhythms. Harry understood but was still disappointed.

"Glad yer feelin' betta," Harry said as the two of them ended up sitting on a roof with a good three feet between them to catch their breath. "Was really startin' ta get bored."

"Evil forbid, you get bored," Jay said with an eye roll. "And I was just testing out my arm."

Harry glanced at the freshly unwrapped arm Jay had folded across one knee. "It hurt?" he asked. Jay hadn't been moving like it hurt, but Harry thought he was pretty good at telling when Jay was pulling punches, and the impacts from that fist had been noticeably weaker than the other.

Jay shrugged. "A bit. Taking it easy with it to be sure it's fine," Jay said.

Harry nodded in understanding and changed the subject. Talking about injuries was never a safe or comfortable topic for either of them to dive too deep into. Unless those injuries were caused in a brawl or rough sex, of course. But the results of actual abuse was not the same as that.

With Jay up and about, things started to settle into a sort of balance again, albeit the boys were still trying to figure out where they stood with each other, and that wasn't comfortable. About a week after Jay was leaving the Loft again, Harry found him in the Junk Shop, staring at the empty safe that Harry had taken forever to break into. "Gorgeous?"

Jay didn't look up. "What're you doin' here, Harry?" he asked.

"I been lookin' fer ya," Harry said. "Mal said ya weren't in the Loft an' I had somethin' ta give ya-"

"Not in the mood, Harry," Jay said.

Harry frowned and eyed Jay's clenched fists. "Ya sure? It's kinda important-"

"Yes, I'm sure!" Jay snapped. He finally looked up, and Harry was surprised to see a spark of something he'd never actually seen in Jay's eyes before. He thought it might actually be fear -although it was so alien, he couldn't be sure. "I just found out something's missing, and it's not some useless trinket, Harry, so leave me alone!"

"Easy then," Harry said, holding his hands up. "If this's 'bout the lamp-"

Jay's eyes blazed suddenly. "How do you know about that?!"

Harry reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out the lamp he'd retrieved. Jay's eyes widened, and he took a half step forward before coming up short. "I saw the things on yer wrist when I found ya tha' time," Harry said before holding the lamp out. "Here. I been keepin' it fer ya, so it don' get taken."

Jay's eyes widened even more. "You... But, with that-"

"I don' wan' ya like tha,' Jay," Harry said before Jay could even finish the thought. The things Harry liked most about Jay would be ruined if he was forced into slavery like that. Harry loved Jay's challenging, defiant attitude and the way he didn't care about where he was and wasn't supposed to be. Jay did what he wanted and was strong enough to look after himself or deal with the consequences if he couldn't. If Harry used the lamp to control Jay, it would ruin everything. "Go on. Take it."

Jay reached out hesitantly as if he was afraid Harry would snatch the lamp back. Harry hated that. Jay took the lamp and held it for a minute, just staring at the tarnished surface. Then, very suddenly, Jay surged forward. Harry couldn't stop the little yelp of surprise, but it was quickly muffled when Jay's mouth slammed into his.

Harry couldn't have pulled back even on the off chance that he'd wanted to as Jay's free hand had gripped Harry by the back of the head and was holding him in place. Hook's son hardly minded though since he'd wanted to kiss Jay again for ages. He wrapped his arms around the thief and brought them closer together as their mouths found a familiar rhythm they hadn't exercised in too long.

Feeling something cold and damp on his face, Harry pulled back from the kiss. He was beyond shocked to see tears on Jay's face. He had _never_ seen Jay cry before. He immediately hated it. "Oh, gorgeous... don' do tha,'" Harry said as he lifted a hand to brush the tears away.

"You-you don't understand. It's been horrible, Harry," Jay said before tucking his head into Harry's shoulder. The pirate tightened his arms around Jay immediately. "I hated it so much..."

"Can' imagine," Harry admitted.

"I couldn't fight him... I just had to take it all and-and it just never stopped," Jay said, tightening his grip on Harry's back. If it weren't for the thickness of Harry's jacket, the pirate was sure that Jay's fingers would actually hurt from how hard he was holding on.

"I's stopped now, gorgeous. He can' hurt ya anymore," Harry said.


	3. Chapter 3

The moans tumbling from Jay's kiss swollen lips were the best thing that Harry had ever heard in his life. He would have definitely said something about it, but his mouth was currently a bit busy with other things. Jay threw his head back, and his fingers tugged at Harry's short hair. Harry could watch his lover like this all day. Completely undone and a beautiful mess. Jay cried out even louder and then went lax while breathing heavily.

Harry slowly sat up straight and wiped his mouth before crawling up Jay's trembling body to give him a kiss. Jay met the pirate's mouth despite still trying to catch his breath. 

After a few minutes, the kiss slowed down, and Harry shifted to wrap his arm around Jay and bring the thief more firmly into his lap. "Mm, you're getting really good at that," Jay murmured as he got comfortable. 

"Lotsa practice," Harry said with a chuckle. He'd been very diligent in making up for his mistakes. Jay hadn't been able to have sex since the abuse with his Father, he said it hurt too much, so Harry had found other alternatives. It had been hard, but they were working through it slowly.

The couple was currently curled up in a little nook up by the ceiling of the small shack that Harry had found and taken over ages ago. It was really only two rooms and a tiny loft space that probably was meant initially just for storage. That small space was cramped and most likely dangerous to be fooling around in, but it had a fantastic view of a nearby ridge and got a breeze now and then, so they didn't really care. It was one of their favorite places to curl up together.

It had taken Harry _weeks_ to convince Jay to move in with him way out in the shack. Jay hadn't wanted to move out into the jungle. He didn't know it and all it's dangers as well as the city. But, after a few trips back and forth, it became clear that the shack wasn't really that far from town. An hour or so of a walk if it wasn't muddy or too dark to see. But it was tucked away and private so the pair of them wouldn't have to worry about being disturbed. Uma and Mal both knew their seconds were out in the woods 'playing house' (as Uma had said with a scoff), but Harry had made them both swear that the shack was considered neutral. So they shouldn't come looking to start trouble.

Jay hummed a bit and tucked his head into Harry's shoulder. Harry rubbed his back and leaned against the main beam of the house. Harry still had no idea who had built the place, some hermit he guessed, but they'd done a not half bad job. When Harry had found it a couple years ago, the roof had been a shambles and animals were living in it, but the walls and floors had all been surprisingly intact. They didn't have running water, which was kind of a drag, but they did have a well just a few feet away, and both Harry and Jay were used to lugging heavy shit around. They could handle a few buckets now and then. Plus, it was probably fresher water than any in the city with their rusty as hell pipes.

Now that the two of them had settled into the house, Harry was finding it harder and harder to bring himself to leave it. He actually really _liked_ not needing to cause havoc and rob people. True, he still did. He worked for Uma still, and that was how Uma provided for the rest of the gang, but Harry didn't feel a driving need to go and do it anymore. He hadn't felt the urge to hook someone just because they annoyed him in... probably several weeks at this point. It was a bizarre realization and one Harry didn't know how to deal with yet.

And, of course, the best thing was that Jay didn't have to sell himself on corners anymore. Though Harry had known better than to say anything about it, he'd always hated having to share Jay with his Johns. Harry was well aware he was possessive, and it had always been incredibly hard to put that aside where Jay was concerned. Jay was _his._ He had Harry's initial on his shoulder, after all. "Marry me," Harry blurted out before he could bite his tongue. 

Jay froze immediately. It took a moment, but then Jay pulled back enough to look at Harry. "What?"

Harry felt self-conscious but refused to look like it. He hadn't actually meant to say that, but he wasn't going to take it back. "Marry me. Ya know... all proper an' shit."

"Harry..."

"Don' look at me like tha,' gorgeous," Harry said as he lifted a hand to brush Jay's hair back behind his pierced ear. "I don' wan' there ta be any misunderstandin's again. I luv ya an' I think ya might luv me too."

Jay blinked a few times and then looked away. "Even though I can't-"

"Hey," Harry interrupted. He knew precisely where that thought was going and wanted to cut it off early. Jay's ability to have sex was hardly the only thing Harry was interested in. If it was, marriage was not the only way to go about getting it on with the Arabian. "Ya said it was startin' ta not feel as bad, righ'?" Jay hesitated but then nodded. "Then ya worryin' 'bout nothin'. An' even if ya can' ever do it anymore... so wha'? I always luved yer mouth too."

Jay bit his lip and continued to look away. "And when you get tired of it?"

"I ain't tired of it yet," Harry said as he took Jay's hands in his and pulled so that the thief was lying down with Harry again. "Don' worry, Gorgeous. Ya don' have ta answer yet. Ya jus' think 'bout it."

Jay was silent for the rest of the night. Harry almost wished he could take back his words because he was sure that was what was troubling Jay so much. But he'd also meant what he'd said so he didn't really want to take the words back. It was incredibly stupid of him to love at all, much less a member of another gang. But denying it wouldn't get either of them anywhere.

The next day Harry helped Jay clean out the fish tank that Harry had gotten Uma and the gang to help with as part of her payment to lying to Harry. She had grumbled about it the whole time but had helped move the weighty fish tank from the center of the city to the shack. It had taken pretty much an entire day to accomplish. 

After finishing with the tank, Harry stole a kiss from Jay and went out to go check in with Uma. Chances were there was something going on he should know about. Jay at least could get messages sent and delivered with Iago, who was often hanging around in a birdhouse outside in the trees along with a rainbow of other younger parrots. Harry was not so lucky and had to physically go check in every couple of days.

Nothing too serious was going on except that Uma was really interested in killing Gaston. She said it had worked out pretty well for Jay, so why wouldn't it work for Gill as well? Harry was entirely on board with the idea, although he wasn't sure how it would work, really. The only reason he'd managed to kill Jafar, he was pretty sure, was because the old bastard hadn't seen him coming. Still, it was a plot Uma was working on. She even made some vague mention of some 'project' she was working on with the other gang leaders. That would presumably include Mal and Harry had to wonder what would be a big enough project to get all the different gangs together for. Whatever it was, Uma didn't seem ready to share.

When Harry got back home (and that was still such an odd word in his head), Jay had dragged the large black clawfoot bathtub out of the bathroom and filled it up with steaming water. Harry froze in the doorway at the unexpected sight. Jay just smirked at him from where he was reclining in the water with his hair tumbling down around his shoulders. "Well? The water is only going to get colder."

Well, how could Harry turn down that sort of invitation?

Harry didn't think he'd ever shed his clothes so fast in his life. He got into the water with as little splashing as he could and settled down behind Jay before kissing the thief's neck. "Mmm, this is a nice surprise, gorgeous..." he murmured as Jay settled back against him.

"You'd better appreciate it. Took ages to heat up this water," Jay said. "Not to mention to lug it in here in the first damn place."

"I do. I get a naked, wet Jay in mah lap..." Harry said as he continued to nuzzle Jay's neck and shoulder. Jay scoffed a little bit but didn't protest more than that. It took the pair of them a solid ten minutes to actually start washing up instead of just lounging in the water. Harry rubbed his hands all over Jay's body, savoring the feel of him and the slight shivers he sometimes gave when Harry pressed a sensitive spot. The golden bracers around Jay's wrists glinted in the low light, and Harry couldn't help but stare at them now and then. He was in awe that Jay was letting Harry see them at all. Jay had been so worried about them for so long that Harry was honestly shocked stupid at the thought that Jay would be able to show the manacles at all. Especially to Harry.

"I've decided something," Jay said as Harry combed his fingers through Jay's long hair.

"Mm? Wha's tha'?" Harry asked absently, a little more focused on watching the long wet strands gleam as he ran his fingers through them.

"I'll marry you," Jay said.

Harry froze. He had not been expecting that. Even in his wildest dreams, he hadn't expected Jay to actually agree. "R-really?"

"Mmhmm," Jay hummed. "Mal's pissed as hell."

Harry turned Jay around in his lap and pulled him close for a kiss. Jay wrapped his arms around Harry's neck to deepen the kiss even more. As they kissed, Harry became aware of Jay starting to slowly move in the pirate's lap. Harry reluctantly broke the kiss. "Jay-"

"Shh, I got this," Jay said before ducking down to kiss Harry again. 

Harry was absolutely helpless to stop. It felt too good, and he had little room to maneuver even if his brain had been working instead of turned into hormone drenched mush. The water in the tub splashed onto the floor, but neither of them particularly cared. Harry grabbed the side of the tub tight and had little choice but to let Jay's expert movements work their magic. 

The bath had turned cold by the time they were both crying out and trying to catch their breath. As Jay rested his body against Harry's, the pirate brushed Jay's damp hair back. "Ya okay, gorgeous?" Jay nodded. "Hurtin' at all?"

"A little," Jay said. "But not bad... just out of practice, I think..."

Harry caught Jay's chin and forced the thief to look up. "Yer amazin', Jay. Really," Harry said before giving his _fiance_ a kiss. That word made Harry's head spin strangely. It didn't seem in the least bit real, and Harry was half expecting to wake up any minute.

The 'wedding' was thrown together in about two seconds about a month later. Harry thought it was pretty perfect, though. Evie had been a whirlwind of energy since she was the one that decided no brother of hers was going to have anything less than a proper wedding. Jay had admitted to Harry later that he'd pretty much expected that reaction, and that was why he'd never bothered trying to plan anything before telling Evie. Harry supposed that made sense.

Harry had only really been required to show up and not look like a mess. Well, not a bad mess. A good mess. CJ had bought Harry a 'new' hat for the occasion and everything. The fact that a fight broke out between Uma and Mal pretty much immediately over who was going to do the actual announcement part wasn't unexpected, but Harry found incredibly amusing. Jay had neutralized that argument by having Carlos do it instead. The poor boy looked like he was going to faint but did as Jay had asked.

The altar was put together from an old Car hood and cinderblocks held together with lengths of barbed wire. Evie had 'decorated' it with random bits of sparkly trash, mostly can tabs from the look of it. Jay's threats were beautifully gruesome and creative and involved lots of visceral imagery. Harry's own felt somewhat flat in comparison, but he meant every word about what he would do if Jay ever tried to leave him. He even made sure to mention he had a really nice spot picked out for Jay's grave. Jay smirked a bit at that, so Harry figured he'd done pretty alright.

After threats were exchanged, the pair kissed straight through Carlos' little finishing spiel, despite not being told to do that yet. They didn't care, though. The after-party was a real screamer with pretty much an entire street trashed from the near-riot that broke out. After sharing a cupcake made with actual sugar and polishing off several bottles, Harry and Jay slipped off to their shack. Harry had a lot of screaming to make Jay do still...

It was nearly sunrise when the pair eventually collapsed out of breath in a tangle of sweaty limbs. They could definitely use a bath, but neither had the energy to move just then. "Holy shit, Harry..." Jay breathed as he pushed the damp hair back from his face.

Harry smirked at that and picked up Jay's right hand. He kissed the thick black band around Jay's ring finger before leaning over to kiss the thief on the lips. "Can' keep up, Jay?" Harry asked, teasingly.

"Fuck off, we've gone three times already. Damn," Jay said. "I'm not gonna be able to sit tomorrow."

"Oh no?" Harry asked with mock concern. "I can think a one thin' ya can prob'bly sit on, gorgeous," he said with a wide grin.

Jay gave Harry a shove. "Pervert."

Harry trapped Jay's hand. "Uma said I don' hafta show up fer a few days... an' Mal can send ya a letter... so I was thinkin' we should prob'bly enjoy ourselves. Right?"

Jay rolled his eyes but reached up to grab the back of Harry's neck. "You're such a horny pirate, God," he complained although he didn't look that upset. "My husband's overactive sex drive."

Harry froze for a moment. "Say tha' again, Jay..."

"Hmm?" Jay seemed confused for a brief moment but then smiled. "My husband?"

"Fuck tha' sounds amazin'," Harry said before giving Jay a hard kiss. He didn't think he'd ever get tired of hearing Jay say that. Not ever.

Three years later, when King Ben sent messengers to check the status of the Isle in an attempt to make some sort of truce or perhaps reduce sentences of the villains that lived there, he and his council were quite surprised to find a vast majority of the villains they had imprisoned had gone missing. Their children all gave the same story of their parent going out one day and just not returning. They said it with the exact same tone of innocent confusion that had Ben immediately doubting the truth of that. But, none were changing the story. The few adults still around were generally rather harmless sidekicks like Mr. Smee or Drusilla or had seemingly turned over a new leaf like the Lady Tremaine or Doctor Facillier. The census that was done after that reported that about eighty percent of the villains had disappeared. 

When Ben met with Mal, who had taken over her missing mother's place as de facto leader of the Isle, she said that to deal with how many parents had gone _tragically_ missing, they now considered anyone over the age of fifteen to be an adult and could take in younger kids. Ben was skeptical about the whole thing, but something was telling him it wasn't something he should question too much. Especially when he met Mal's second-in-command Jay and the kid that he and his frankly unsettlingly unhinged partner had apparently taken in. The kid had adored the couple, and both Jay and Harry had given not so subtle threats about how far they'd go to protect the kid. 

All in all, Ben figured that the Isle, as strange as it was, couldn't be expected to change overnight after everything that had happened. He did want to help, though, so he reopened trade and set up several new programs involving infrastructure and public services. It wasn't ideal, Ben didn't think, but he hoped he could help in some small way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh! It's so fluffy! Too bad this doesn't happen in the other story, huh?


	4. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this wasn't supposed to be a thing... but I got questions about the kid that Harry and Jay adopted and... well... it started stuff alright. This cutie just wanted to introduce herself so who was I to say no.
> 
> (also, yes, she is a daddy's girl for both of them. They adore her and spoil her in whatever Isle ways they can)

Jay glanced up at his husband, who was currently ranting in his typical pirate vulgarity. It didn't even make much sense. More like just a stream of curses that didn't really say what Harry was so upset about or even go together that well, when Jay thought about it. "Poppy? What's Daddy angry about?" Jay sighed at the question and kept braiding the long raven black hair in front of him. He should have known that question was coming.

"Nothing you need to worry about, Samara," Jay told the little girl in his lap. "Auntie Mal and your Daddy just got in another argument," he added.

"Oh. He's saying words that Auntie E said are bad," Samara said as she played with the thinned out hair of the doll that her 'cousin' Dizzy had given her. Samara loved the toy (despite the big gash on its face, missing leg, and only about half the hair it should have) and carried it everywhere. Samara just claimed her doll was a pirate (like Daddy and Auntie Re-re and, and, and...) and even took up an attempt at the Hook family accent when speaking through the doll. She wasn't half bad at it, Jay thought.

Jay pulled more of Samara's hair back into the braid that he'd become very good at over the months. Samara was slouching in Jay's lap, so he tapped her back lightly. She quickly straightened up so that Jay had an easier time with her hair. "I know. You can tell on him to Auntie E later," Jay said.

"Gorgeous! Don' say tha'!" Harry protested. Evie had definitely gotten a reputation with Harry after that time she had dyed _all_ his hair bubblegum pink in an act of vengeance for something Harry did. And it really was _all_ of his hair. Jay had no idea how Evie had managed it, but Harry hadn't crossed her since.

"Well then, don't use bad words in front of her," Jay said as he found the bright green satin ribbon that Mal had given them when they adopted Samara. He tied the braid off in a tight knot. Samara's hair was so silky it took a bit of effort to really get it firmly secured. But with tips from Dizzy and Evie, Jay had gotten the hang of it. Harry decidedly hadn't, but then that was why Jay was the one that did Samara's hair.

When Jay had seen the little girl in the streets, he'd instantly been taken with her huge eyes that reminded him of honey (which was such a luxury on the Isle Jay had only tasted it once when Maleficent 'disappeared') and her equally sweet nature. She had been a shadow that hung around her father's Dim Sum shop and picking the occasional pocket while Shan-Yu cooked and shouted. Harry had also fallen head over heels for the girl the moment Jay pointed her out to him.

So, when they found out that Shan-Yu did a little more than raise his voice to his daughter. Well. There was an old dried out well about a mile from Jay and Harry's house. It took him a couple days to realize no matter how loud he shouted, nobody could hear him, and the chains that Harry got from the Jolly Roger might be rusty, but they were still plenty thick enough to hold a Hun. They had filled the well in with rocks after the noises stopped coming from it. It was dangerous having an open well, after all. Someone might fall in...

Samara came to live with Jay and Harry and was probably as close to a Princess as was possible to get on the Isle. Jay and Harry had extremely powerful connections on top of their own reputations. Plus, she had a huge array of 'Aunties', 'Uncles', and 'Cousins' that spoiled her as much as possible with limited resources.

Of course, that might be changing soon. Mal had an important meeting with King Ben in a few days that might lead to a better life for all of them. Mal had offered to put the small family up in Bargain Castle so that they wouldn't have to walk for an hour the day of. That was the reason that Harry was so pissed off. _He_ wanted to stay with his sister despite the limited space. Jay refused, and Harry crumbled despite liking to pretend he ran things in the house. But he still complained as if he hadn't folded near instantly.

"Ya know this is gonna go horrible," Harry complained.

"It's not going to go horrible," Jay said. "Don't be a pessimist, Harry."

"What does that mean, Poppy?" Samara asked.

"It means he's being grumpy and thinking everything's going to go wrong before it does," Jay supplied as he got to his feet. He shifted the little girl to be perched on his hip even as Harry pouted. 

Samara clung to Jay's shoulder with one hand while holding her doll close with her other. While Jay had been braiding her hair, she'd been making her own attempt with her doll's to very crazed results. "Now yer turnin' my own daughter 'gainst me..." Harry said, still pouting heavily.

Jay rolled his eyes as Samara giggled. Harry crossed the room to give Jay a kiss. And also to shift their daughter from the Arabian's arms to his own. Then he scampered back a few steps with a triumphant grin. Samara giggled even more and hugged Harry tight around his neck. Jay huffed and crossed his now empty arms. "Oh, I see how it is. A bunch of traitors, I live with."

"No, Poppy!" Samara said, reaching out for Jay. "I love you too!"

Jay couldn't manage to keep his pretend scowl in place with her looking at him like that and swooped down to kiss her forehead. "I know, Dragonfly," Jay said. 

"Wha' abou' me, Gorgeous?" Harry asked.

"What about you?" Jay asked back with an eyebrow raised. 

"I luv ya... don' I get a kiss?" His smile was wide, and his eyes sparkled with mischief, and Jay couldn't help but smile back. "I promise I'll be kinda nice ta Mal..." Harry added.

Jay snorted at that blatant lie. Even if Harry tried his best to be nice to Mal, Jay gave that about two minutes before evaporating. "I'll settle for not getting into a fight with her, honestly," Jay said as he let Harry keep holding Samara to pick up the rucksack that held the few things that they would need for a sleepover at the Castle. "But we should get going, or it'll be past dinner when we get there."

"The horror... missin' Mal's cookin'..." Harry drawled.

"Shut up, you grew up eating at the Chip Shop," Jay pointed out as he slung the bag over his shoulder and led the way out of the shack. "Plus, Carlos might have cooked, and he's loads better than Mal."

Harry seemed to consider that for a moment before shrugging. "I guess..."

Jay shook his head and pretended to not hear Harry mock whispering to their daughter about how to best pretend that you were eating Mal's food without actually doing it. Jay allowed it since he was about eighty percent sure Harry was joking, and Samara seemed amused. If it kept her safe in Harry's arms and not running off into the jungle like a wild child, then Jay was all for it. Though Jay had come to love the privacy their home provided, it wasn't by any means a safe environment, and Samara was adventurous. 

Halfway back to town, Iago fluttered down to land on Jay's shoulder. The colorful bird no longer could do anything beyond a parrot's natural mimicry, but he had no problem making sure his opinion was known. And since Iago hung around Jay frequently now, nobody would be particularly surprised when he showed up at the meeting.

"Iago!" Samara called as she reached out from Harry's arms.

Iago squawked back but didn't tend to go near Harry and so stayed where he was on Jay's shoulder. Samara pouted at that until Harry decided to launch into a truly ridiculous story that Jay was certain he was making up on the fly.

When they got to Bargain Castle, Samara was delighted to meet up with several other kids her age, and they all ran off to play in the dungeon. Iago went with as a sort of watchman, but he probably would let the kids run about as wild as they wanted. Short of actually maiming and murdering each other. Dinner was, in fact, cooked by Carlos, so Harry didn't even get a chance to complain to his full extent. Jay could tell he wanted to but refrained from doing so. Gil and Carlos had actually become very close after Jay and Harry's wedding. So Harry had avoided directly complaining about Carlos since it upset Gil.

That night, Mal had put the couple up in one of the tower rooms where they had a glorious view of the trash heap that was the Isle of the Lost. "Ya know," Harry said as he came up behind Jay and wrapped his arms around the Arabian's waist. "I kinda forgot how nice it is ta have our own room," he murmured into Jay's neck.

Jay snorted and automatically let his head shift so that Harry could kiss the skin there. "Oh?"

"Yeah," Harry said as he shifted even closer so that he was pressed tight against Jay's back. "I luv the kid, really... bu' I miss makin' luv ta ya every night," he said, his hand drifting down Jay's side to his hip.

"We had sex last week, horny pirate," Jay pointed out.

"Mmm, ages," Harry said. "Maybe I should add a secon' room ta the house..."

Jay turned his head enough to look at his husband. "With what handy skills?"

Harry grinned wide enough that Jay felt it against his skin. "Ya know I'm good wit my hands, Gorgeous," he said as his hand wandered further down to palm the front of Jay's pants. "Wan' me ta remind ya?"

Jay turned in Harry's grasp and moved forward. Harry was caught off guard, despite Jay not pushing very hard and stumbled back. Harry grunted as he landed on the bed, and Jay toppled down on top of him. "How about I remind you who you seem to think you can manhandle?" Jay asked as he caught Harry's hands and pinned them to the bed. "You've never beaten me in a fight, Hook."

Harry's eyes sparkled. "Firs' time fer everythin'," he said as his grin grew. He was insanely aroused.

"Oh, come on, Doll... you know me better than that," Jay said before swooping down to claim Harry's mouth with a demanding kiss. Harry gave just as good as he got, but Jay knew every button that Harry had that turned the pirate to mush. He was helpless to resist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, that thing mentioned about Carlos and Gil... I'm leaving that entirely up to interpretation if you think they're in a relationship or just good friends. I couldn't decided what to go with myself so left it vague.


	5. Slice of Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a day with the happy family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this past week it snowed for the first time this winter season around my place. It inspired me. So, even though I supposedly am done, I'm apparently still thinking about this squaredAU. Enjoy the plotless fluff.

"Poppy! Poppy, look!" 

Jay looked up from the logs he was gathering in his arms to see Samara waving both arms at him from nearer to the house. She had a giant grin on her pink-tinged face and was standing beside a truly massive snow monster. It looked like some odd cross between a lion (it had a mane made of what looked like dried out old vines and grass) and an octopus as it didn't really have legs but big round tubes of snow at the bottom. Icicles had been carefully pried off the edge of the house roof to serve as jagged teeth and claws. "It's a snow monster! Do you like it?"

Jay put one more piece of wood into his arms and walked over. The eyes of the monster were little rocks that Samara must have found in the path that Harry had cleared out earlier that day. "It's really awesome, Dragonfly. Super scary," Jay said. Although he couldn't help but wonder how she'd gotten up high enough to work on the top. "Did Daddy help you with this?"

"Un uh," Samara said practically bouncing next to her creation. "I did it all by myself."

"Wow, that's amazing," Jay said, not even lying. He glanced over at Samara again and saw how red her fingers were. "Where are your gloves?"

Samara stopped bouncing and put her hands behind her back. "... um. I don't know," she said.

Jay sighed. "You need to keep your gloves on, Samara. It's cold out here," Jay said before extending a hand to his daughter. No doubt they'd find the gloves somewhere in the yard after the snow melted. Or maybe inside where she had just never put them on. "Come on. Let's go get warmed up."

Samara kicked at the snow a little. "But I wanna play more."

"Samara, you can play after lunch, but that's enough for now," Jay said firmly. Samara whined a little but ultimately relented and took Jay's hand to let him lead the way inside.

Harry was there to help Samara out of the many layers she had on while Jay took the wood he'd picked out of the pile over to put beside the stove that they cooked food on, and that heated the house. Though Carlos had helped them rig up a generator and some electricity to run things like lights, the fridge, and Jay's fish tank, they had yet to find any sort of stove that they could get to work, so they relied on old fashioned fire. Jay carefully stacked the split logs so that any dampness from outside would fully dry before they had to use them.

There was a pot of stew simmering on the top of the stove that looked like Harry's 'Pirate Stew' which was essentially anything leftover thrown into a pot of water and left to just cook for a while. Jay brushed some bits of bark and dirt off himself before pulling off the jacket made of leather and denim scraps and hung it on a hook by the door. Samara was chattering on about something to Harry, who was still helping her out of essentially every shirt and pair of pants she owned. Since Harry was dealing with that, Jay grabbed a chipped bowl from the single cabinet above the sink to dole out a serving of stew. A slab of cheese went into it because Samara would eat practically anything if it had a bunch of cheese in or on it. That and a chunk of hard bread went onto a plate to sit on the table. "When you're free, come here and eat your lunch, Dragonfly."

"Okay, Poppy!" Samara said even though her voice was muffled under a shirt that Harry was pulling off her.

Jay was in the process of carefully warming up some goat's milk, which was one of the few things the Isle produced itself, since transporting milk on trash barges had never really worked. Harry came up behind him and wrapped his arms around Jay's waist. "Hey, Gorgeous," Harry said, tucking his face into Jay's neck.

"Hey," Jay replied as he watched the milk heating up. "You hang up her wet clothes?"

"Mm, in a minute," Harry said. "I gotta warm ya up firs'."

Jay rolled his eyes but didn't protest. If he really minded his husband clinging to him, they probably wouldn't be married in the first place. Once the liquid was lightly steaming, Jay poured the warmed milk into a cup with a healthy dash of coffee since Samara didn't like it plain. "Take this to Samara, will ya?"

Harry hummed and tightened his arms for a moment before reluctantly pulling away. The pirate took the drink over to their daughter while Jay doled out some more stew for himself and Harry. Harry grabbed the few layers of clothes that had gotten wet and hung them up on a pole fixed to the wall beside the stove. As they ate, Samara animatedly told her fathers' the entire life story of the snow monster she'd made. She'd apparently named it Sparkle, and it came from Ice Land (which was a real place she didn't make up, stop it, Daddy!) and wanted to eat eggs. Why it wanted to eat eggs, they never could get her to explain, but she was adamant that it was hunting for eggs. Which was odd in itself as Samara couldn't stand eggs unless (again) they were drowned in cheese.

Samara slowly picked at her food while chattering on and continuing on her elaborate but somewhat wandering story. That led to her finishing last, but that was common enough. Jay let Harry pick up the dishes as he tossed a few pieces of hard bread up to the loft where Iago was. Iago hated the cold about as much as Jay did, so he had taken refuge inside last night when the snow had started to fall. The parrot munched away on the snack that Jay had tossed him quite happily.

"Her clothes ain't dry yet," Harry said after feeling the pair of pants by the stove. That wasn't too surprising, considering they hadn't taken that long for lunch. 

Jay hummed thoughtfully and took a drink of his own coffee. "Well, she'll just be getting it wet again anyway..." he reasoned. Glancing at Samara, who was gnawing on the bread she'd been given, he asked, "You wanna stay in here where it's warm or go outside again?"

Samara seemed to think about that and then looked between the two of them. "Outside. You and Daddy are just gonna be kissing and stuff."

Harry chuckled, even as he gathered up Samara's still damp clothes. "Nah a bad idea, eh, gorgeous?" he asked. Jay rolled his eyes but didn't bother responding more than that. He would have called his husband a horny pirate or a pervert or something, but their daughter was sitting right there, so that probably wouldn't have been smart.

It took a little bit of effort to get Samara back in all her layers, especially since a few were damp, but they managed it. "I'm gonna make a friend for Sparkle!" Samara said as she flung the door open.

Jay shivered at the cold breeze; he still didn't frequently wear sleeves, so this time of year was some of the worst. "Don't stay out too long and look for your gloves!" he called just before the door slammed shut again. He shook his head a bit but couldn't help but be amused. Jay couldn't ever remember being excited about snow, but he was glad that their daughter was able to be. Things were much better now on the Isle than they had been while Jay and Harry were growing up. Mal was even trying to come to an agreement with Ben to remove the barrier for good.

Harry went over to where Jay was sitting at the table. "Well, whaddya say we start on tha' suggestion?" he asked, leaning down over Jay.

The Arabian's eyebrow went up. "And what suggestion was that?"

"Kissin' an' stuff," Harry said before catching Jay's mouth with his.

Jay kissed him back and even reached up to hold the back of Harry's head and neck. The kiss lingered for several minutes before Harry pulled back from the slightly awkward position. "Mm, 'specially if we can do the 'stuff' part," Harry said. He tilted his head to the added on backroom where they now had a bed covered in several layers of quilts and blankets. "She'll be outside fer a while," Harry said temptingly.

"Can't you ever keep it in your pants?" Jay asked.

"Nah around you, gorgeous," Harry said. Harry moved his hand from the table to rest on Jay's side near his hip. "Come on, Jay, 'ow often we get this chance, eh?"

"Pretty much every night," Jay said, unimpressed.

"I can' help it if yer addictin' as hell," Harry said.

Jay rolled his eyes and pulled Harry close to give him another kiss. He only let it last for a brief moment. "Do the dishes, Doll."

Harry pouted. "I hate the dishes."

"Well, if _I_ have to do the dishes, then I can't be in bed getting ready for you, now can I?" Jay asked lightly. Harry's eyes widened a fraction, and Jay smirked before kissing him again and getting up. "Better hurry before I get tired of waiting," Jay said as he made his way into their room.

"So nah fair," Harry groaned although he quickly grabbed up the remaining dishes to take to the sink anyway.

Harry Hook had washed plenty of dishes before, it was a common enough chore on the Jolly Roger for all three of the Captain's kids. But never had Harry done them as fast as he had with the thought of his husband waiting in the bedroom for him to finish. He'd barely paused to wipe the water off his hands when he was done before going to bed with Jay.

After their own fun time in bed, the two of them cleaned up and got mostly dressed, although Jay didn't bother putting his vest on. Harry put a few new pieces of wood in the stove while Jay went to the door. "Samara, inside," he called.

"But Poppy!"

"No 'buts,' unless it's yours in this house," he said firmly. "Did you find your gloves?"

Samara pouted but trudged inside. "No..."

"Did you look?"

"... no."

Jay sighed but stepped to the side to let her get into the warmth of the house. He was cold in the doorway bare-chested anyway. Since Harry was still working at the stove, Jay helped their daughter delayer. It took some struggle before she was down to just a long-sleeved red shirt and pair of pale and slightly hole-ridden jeans. Even more of her clothes were wet than the first time, which wasn't that surprising, so Jay hung them up in the bathroom where there was more space.

There was water heating up on the stove in the biggest pot they had for Samara's bath, but it wasn't anywhere near warm enough yet. So, instead, Jay and his daughter curled up on her bed, and she played with her dolls. Harry, once he was done with what he was doing, came over to where they were and got comfortable. They didn't have a whole lot to do inside -most of the things they did together included exploring the jungle, doing some sort of chore outside, or going to town- but Harry was at least able to read stories, which always thrilled Samara to no end. 

Harry got through two stories and was starting a third when Jay got up to work on dinner. Jay was only half-listening, so he was pretty startled when he heard Samara ask, "but if it's a 'lamp,' why is it under the bed, Daddy?"

Jay nearly dropped the knife he'd been using and quickly turned. Harry was frowning. "Samara, ya ain't supposed ta know it's there. How'dya find it?"

"I dropped my ball, and it rolled under your bed. So, I went to get it. Why is it there?" Samara pressed.

Jay felt his heart trying to escape his chest. Harry glanced up at Jay for a minute before shifting Samara onto his knee. "Cause it's a secret, a'righ'?" he asked. "Ain't nobody supposed ta know 'bout it. It's real important ta yer Poppy."

Samara looked over at Jay, who managed to give the slightest nod in agreement. From the slight frown on her face, Samara still didn't really understand, which wasn't surprising since they hadn't explained what the lamp even was. But Samara turned back to Harry and nodded, "Alright, Daddy."

With that, Harry quickly changed the topic, and Jay was able to relax a little. They would have to find a better hiding spot for his lamp, although there wasn't really anywhere in the house that was much better. Perhaps they should bury it in a box somewhere. That would make it much harder to stumble across.

After dinner, the three of them played a few rounds of cards. Samara was getting to be quite the accomplished gambler with Harry's training. Jay didn't doubt that by the time she was twelve, she'd be able to beat almost anyone on the Isle. She wasn't quite as skilled with sleight of hand, but then when you could swindle anyone with a few games of poker, sleight of hand wasn't as important.

The water had heated up to near boiling, which meant that when mixed with cooler water to fill the tub to a better level, it would still be nice and warm. So, despite her whining about it, Samara was sent off to have her bath while Jay and Harry cleaned up from dinner. Jay pulled on his jacket to grab just a few more pieces of wood from the pile outside so that they wouldn't have to leave the house in the middle of the night.

Samara, dressed in pale yellow pajamas, came out of the bathroom with still-damp hair. So Jay sat down with her right by the stove and braided it for her. Hopefully, by the time she actually went to bed, her hair would be dry. Harry poured both himself and Jay a drink once he'd finished putting away the leftovers. 

The three of them stayed clustered around the stove where it was warmest just joking around and talking to one another until Jay decided that it was definitely time for Samara to go to bed. She complained, because she always did when it was time for bed, but knew better than to put up too much of a fight. Besides, she hadn't been curled up under the covers for longer than five minutes before she was gone.

The back room was colder than the rest of the house since it didn't have as easy access to the stove, but Jay and Harry had their own ways of keeping warm that didn't require fire. It had taken some practice to be able to keep quiet enough to not wake up Samara, but by now, they were pretty good at doing so. Definitely helpful was that there was now a wall between them and her. 

Still a little out of breath, Jay leaned back into his pillow and ran a hand through his hair. "I'd have thought you'd be slower since we did it this afternoon," he said as Harry pulled the covers up over them a bit better.

"Nah," Harry said. "Yer too damn hot fer that."

Jay chuckled a little bit and shifted to let Harry cling to him like he'd been doing more and more since they got back together. "We have to find a better place to hide my lamp, Harry," Jay said as they settled in.

"... yeah. I got some ideas don' worry, gorgeous," Harry said. "How long ya think there's gonna be snow out there?"

Jay shrugged. "A day. Maybe two." The fact that they'd gotten snow at all where they were was pretty impressive and probably only because they were in the Northernmost edge of the jungle. So Jay doubted it would stick around too long. If they were up in the city, they'd probably have it for most of the week, but that was one of the nicer benefits for moving like they had.

"Mm, then when the snow melts, I'll take care a yer lamp. Promise," Harry said, nuzzling closer.

Jay smiled a little bit and kissed Harry's head. "Thanks, Doll."

"Mm, only 'cause I luv ya."

"Love you too, Harry."

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [He can' hurt ya anymore](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21329482) by [Ragnaroq](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ragnaroq/pseuds/Ragnaroq)


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